Chapter 382 Spell of the Red Lotus (1/2)

Lize and Marlene were stunned. They turned around subconsciously and witnessed a spectacular spark exploding in the hills above the village.

”Ambush!”

Both of them stood up instantly as they knew what that meant. In fact, Rhode had instructed Joey and a few other Thieves and Rangers to set up magical signals and traps after the battle with the Barbarians had ended. After all, all the Barbarians that attacked Deep Creek Village had been eliminated, and there was no news on the whereabouts of the remaining Barbarians that had escaped. According to Rhode's estimation, the Barbarians might send more men in search of their companions, and to prevent these people from raiding during midnight, Rhode commanded his men to set up traps and sentries at areas that were most prone for the Barbarians to appear. Now, it seemed to be effective.

The celebrating mercenaries and villagers instantly got into action upon noticing the sparks. They threw down their food and wine and picked up their weapons while the elderlies, children, and women hid into the nearby houses. The bustling celebration turned desolate instantly.

Marlene was moved by this scene as she finally understood the meaning of Lize's words. In a place like this, dangers would present themselves anytime. If you don't seize the time to enjoy your peaceful life, you might possibly lose everything the next second.

Suddenly, a glaring bolt of light flashed through the mountains and a ginormous fireball was seen whizzing towards the village.

A Mage?

Everyone was stunned at the fast-descending danger. Marlene focused her concentration on the huge fireball and lifted her wand high.

”Sudys!”

As soon as the young lady shouted, a flourishing magic formation emerged on the tip of the ruby in a blink of an eye. Dozens of Ice Swords materialized in midair and shot towards the fireball.

Bam! A violent explosion sounded the instant both spells collided. A reddish radiance shrouded the sky before dissipating in an instance.

”There's a Mage?”

Rhode and his men arrived at the plaza. Marlene turned to Rhode with a complicated look and nodded slightly.

”Yes. It should be an Outer Circle Mage. I can handle this.”

Marlene lifted her wand once again and struck it on the ground.

”Tresan!”

The ground shook and the wooden palisades around the village began to distort. In a blink of an eye, they were replaced by a thick perimeter of 'tree fences'. The mercenaries and militias readied their weapons for the upcoming battle. Although the sky was under the protection of the Light Dragon, it was midnight after all. The surrounding dense forest around the village had allowed darkness to become the only tone in the dusky forest. Therefore, even though the mercenaries and militias wished to check out the situation, they couldn't see clearly how many people were lurking in the shadows.

Shalala.

A shadow suddenly appeared on the tip of the fence. The nervous crowd instantly pointed their weapons at the target. However, they let out sighs of relief after recognizing that person.

”Joey? How's the situation?”

”Woah. The situation doesn't look good, Boss.”

Joey somersaulted off the fence and landed silently on the grass patch. He darted towards Rhode and wiped off the sweat on his forehead.

”There are so many Barbarians. Oh god, we'd just removed a bunch of them but their reinforcement came! There's so many of them!”

”How many?”

Rhode puckered his brows and asked hurriedly. Joey pondered for a moment and replied with a bitter expression.

”Similar in the morning with about a few hundred of them. These men were tough to deal with because they had split up in groups of three to five and dispersed into the forest. We were discovered after succeeding four times. Our remaining brothers are investigating now so we can figure out how many are near us. Also…”

Joey paused and turned to Marlene with lingering fears.

”They have a Mage within their ranks.”

”I know,” Marlene nodded. ”But he's no match for me.”

”Nonono, Miss Marlene. It's not like this.”

To Marlene's surprise, Joey waved his hands and displayed a fearful face.

”There are many, many Mages and not only one! I saw at least five of them.”

”What?”

Rhode and Marlene were stunned. At least five Mages? How is that possible? Mages were rare and valuable. Even if a Mage couldn't survive in this world, one could still serve the bandits, killer guilds or secret evil groups. Furthermore, Mages could even ask for women, gold and authority in the mercenary group and one didn't even need to come to this civilized border to mix with the Barbarians.

If it was only two Mages, it might be due to their own peculiarity. However, it seemed that things weren't this way at all because how could a Barbarian clan gather five Mages at the same time?

However, before Rhode could figure it out, the second wave of fireballs struck. But the intensity was different this time. As if the Mages were confirming Joey's report, four fireballs were fired at the same time from three different directions.

”Hmph!”

Marlene let out an enraged snarl as she chanted for a dozen Ice Swords and projected them towards the fireballs. A series of explosion sounded above the village and a similar reddish radiance blanketed the night sky.

”How did the Barbarians gather so many Mages?”

Rhode gazed towards the afterglow of explosions in the sky. Things were too odd and Rhode began to suspect if this was a scheme plotted by the Parliament. However, it didn't seem so because the Deep Creek Village was located far from civilization. Even if the Barbarians were to destroy everything, the outside world wouldn't be affected at all. Moreover, there were no treasures or striking target in this area worthy enough for the Parliament to take action.

But, other than them, who else would send their Mages to aid the Barbarians? Could it be that someone in the Barbarian clan had awakened his magical talent? That's ridiculous because the knowledge of magic wasn't something everyone could learn. It would still be reasonable if one or two Barbarians awakened and mastered the knowledge through comprehensive studies. But it wasn't possible that all of them went through the same process?

Bam! A loud explosion shook Rhode from his analysis. He turned around and witnessed the red flames above him slowly disappearing. Marlene laid down her wand and took in a few deep breaths. Although the spells that the enemies cast were low-level spells, it took a toll on her after handling three to five of them at once. Marlene showed a complicated expression and harbored some doubts.

”Why do I feel that… these people don't feel like Mages?”

”Eh?” Rhode turned towards Marlene. ”What do you mean?”

”It's simple, Mr. Rhode. Mages choose their spells according to situations. It is necessary for us to know how to organize different spells and handle various situations. There's never a Mage who could defeat the world using just one spell. But, these people…”